A CONTRACTOR sought payment anew from the province for a P34.6-million infrastructure project it completed during the administration of former governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
Edgar Sarmiento, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Sarmiento Construction Inc. said it was unfair of the provincial government to delay payment for its completed infrastructure projects.
He said while the contracts weren’t ratified by the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) because it wasn’t required by Garcia, it passed a “post auditing review” by the Commission on Audit (COA).
“In all fairness to us contractors, we seek assistance from your end by ratifying our contracts for us to be paid on our long overdue claims,” Sarmiento’s Dec. 12 letter read.
The construction firm is one of the 31 contractors that are still unpaid by the provincial government because the contracts were not approved by the PB.
Provincial Treasurer Emmanuel Guial said the province owes the contractors P607.2 million. The biggest payable is P188.8 million owed to WTG Construction and Development Corp.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said he will meet with provincial attorney Orvi Ortega and provincial administrator Mark Tolentino to deal with the demands of the contractors.